Hi..i did a random retune and immediately lost half my channels…no go, gem, prime, nine, seven etc…did a factory reset, tried manually retuning..no signal…yet TV downstairs remains perfect and unaffected..i live in Fingal Bay, Port Stephens so do not get the new HD lifestyle channels…cant be my aerial which worked prior to retuning….

Hi Sue, I presume you’ve done a subsequent retune and it’s made no difference? My suspicion is that you might have a faulty TV Fly Lead. The signal threshold required for a channel to be stored in an Automatic Tune procedure is higher than what is required to bearly work. Digital TV does a good job of hiding a bad signal until it just won’t work. Check out this article and see if it makes any difference: http://www.digitaltvhelp.com.au/my-digital-tv-reception-is-bad-what-to-do-first/

Sue Van Oosterom

Hey David..thanks for your help..i had written to NBN Newcastle not expecting a reply but they said the new upgrade to the transmitters a few days ago at Gan Gan caused some trouble as the channels i lost were receiving from two different locations Gan Gan or Sugar Loaf..i tried a manual tune to 28 as advised and wham, it worked…i had previously tried 36 but it was no signal..anyway it is all foreign to me…but thanks..just in case someone else in this area asks you xxxxxxx

There has definitely been a lot of confusion as the digital upgrades and retunes have been rolling out around the country. It’s particularly complicated in areas where there are multiple transmitter sites.

I’m planning to put together a complete listing of all the transmitter sites and channels at some point soon.

Sue Van Oosterom

Well just after I messaged you we lost ABC and SBS so i have no idea what channel to manually tune them to…..you have chosen a very tricky ever changing career….you wont get bored xxxx

Hi David we are building a new house in Grange SA and I am wondering how many tv points I should install or is it best to use a set top box for some of the locations. We will have T.V’s in Lounge room, study, alfresco, rumpus and master bedroom (5 total) what do we need for this set up. All tv points or some with set top box or use pc? We do have one smart tv, so do we need a tv point for it? Do we need to install an aerial?

While you could probably get away with all internet based TV options these days, for most people I’d recommend installing an antenna for Digital TV. I’d almost certainly put a TV antenna point everywhere you expect to have a TV. I’d also recommend putting in a fixed wired LAN ethernet point(or 2) at every location you expect to have a TV, wired back a central point possibly in the garage. This future proofs you for internet based TV options like Netflix and Foxtel in the future over NBN.

Kerry

Hi David

A friend of mine has decided she doesn’t want foxtel anymore. She lives in a set of town houses and said that the body corporate had the television antenna upgraded she thinks (possibly for digital but I don’t know). There is currently one foxtel outlet near the main TV in the lounge but no antenna outlet.

The rooms upstairs have a TV antenna socket and they are able to get reception via these outlets.

In the garage there is a locked TELSTRA box where both of the cables go into. We tried using a foxtel to TV converter but is says no stations found when trying to auto tune. We are thinking of splitting the tv cable once it comes out of the box and putting in a new TV antenna lead up to the main TV. Is that OK?

Yep if you can find the TV antenna cable that feeds the upstairs antenna sockets and split it with a 2 way splitter it should work fine.

It can be a bit hard to identify which cable it is in a complicated set up if they’ve setup the complex to share one Foxtel cable feed and one antenna feed. You could probably also switch the cable that feeds the lounge Foxtel outlet from the Foxtel input to the antenna input, but you’d need access to the locked box to do that.

Kerry

Yes I thought that would be preferable but as I don’t have the key will do the two way splitter as you suggest. It’s easy to see which is the cable going to upstairs as opposed to other so that is okay. I don’t think there is any power supply but if so will turn that off. Would that be a risk?

There shouldn’t be power on the TV cabling, but in case of any faults in wiring it’s always a possibility. Disconnecting any power supplies is a good idea before cutting any cables. You could also turn the power off at the master switch as a precaution.

Karen Webber

Hi David. I’ve just moved into a house and there are a lot of screw in type antenna cables. I only have plug in type tvs so bought the adapters. We’ve hooked the tvs up to each of the points to test which one is the tv cable but they all come back saying weak or no signal. There’s an antenna on the roof but we can’t seem to get the connection to it. Not sure what the previous owners had – foxtel or what. Can you tell me what to do? Thanks Karen

In most houses, screw in type antenna points are usually for pay TV, either satellite or cable. They are sometimes used for free to air, but usually not. Are there any points that are the old normal push in style?

I have seen a few houses where the previous owners have only used Foxtel therefore had none connected to the antenna.

There is also another possibility, particularly worth checking if there is no Foxtel dish or cable connection on the outside of the house. Does the antenna have a small grey box on the pole? If so this is likely an amplifier. Amplifiers typically use a plug in power supply that goes onto one of the sockets. Previous owners or tenants usually accidentally take it with them. It’s easy enough to get a replacement power supply and then you’d have to try each socket to see which one(s) it works from.

Karen Webber

Thanks very much for this. I got an antenna guy in and you’re right! The previous tenants took the power supply! Hard lesson to learn at $145 for the antenna guy and the power supply, but at least the tv is working now!
Cheers and thanks again!

Karen Webber

John Madelly

I am in Mossy Point, half way between Batemans Bay and Moruya. I often have the signal drop out for the SBS affiliated channels and occasionally ABC. It appears to be worse when there is a high wind but appears to only affect the channels above, particularly SBS. Could it be that these channels are on a lower strength signal and I require a bigger arial? What other things may affect that reception?

It is likely those channels are on a different frequency that may be more affected by signal problems. Breakups and dropouts in windy conditions usually tells me that the antenna has a fault. It may have a bad connection that is getting interrupted as the antenna moves in the wind. Certain frequencies may be affected more than others.

If it is a relatively new antenna, perhaps it’s just a weak signal that is just getting disrupted a bit by the movement. First thing I always suggest is replace the cable that goes from the wall to the back of the TV. Bad fly leads can lose a lot of signal, enough to turn a marginal signal into a bad signal that is more easily affected by weather. See this article: https://www.digitaltvhelp.com.au/my-digital-tv-reception-is-bad-what-to-do-first/

Robyn Waller

My sister has Foxtel (satellite) and now cannot get 7two. Can she install an aerial and use her tv as a standard unit to get FTA channels (and still keep her Foxtel when she wants to use it). This is mainly because 7 shows most of the tennis on 7two not their main channel – she is a tennis buff

Yep, in fact it’s my recommended set up. Depending on the the Foxtel product, the free to air channels aren’t necessarily as good a picture quality as if you got them over the aerial. The house might already have an antenna setup, so you just need to connect a TV Fly Lead(you can get one at bunnings) from the socket to the aerial input on the back of the TV. Then just select the TV source using the remote control and run the Digital TV Setup process on the TV.

Matty Jordan

Hi David, I have a question.

I live in a older apartment and I have a Digital TV and a Antenna – I am struggling to get any good pictures on this alone.

I have this on my wall in the lounge and I don’t know if this is a old style TV wall antenna socket or not?

That looks to me like a socket for the old style ribbon TV cable. Adaptors to connect one to a PAL BG connection do exist, but I doubt it will help you. The old ribbon antennas and cables can work with Digital TV in excellent signal areas, but they are susceptible to interference and the age is likely to mean it’s in such bad condition it doesn’t work. I did a quick eBay search and couldn’t find any of the appropriate adaptors.

Are you using an indoor antenna? If so does it have amplification?

Matty Jordan

Thank you so much for your response. I’m using a cheap antenna and can only get one channel out of it. Would getting a more expensive type help?

i am in kenya and i have bought digital tv dish mounted it at the top of my house but now i cannot receive signals, help me pliz

David Findlay

Unfortunately I don’t know anything about satellite. My site is focused on Australia, which is where my expertise is.

ian Mac

Do I need a special fly lead to connect from the wall to my TV. (Digital attenna installedI have been living outside Australia for nearly 10 years and now I am back I am trying a number of old fly leads I had for analog with no or poor signal- are they the same or does digital need a different type of fly lead? Thank you

Hi Ian, Sorry I thought I’d replied to this one. You don’t need a different type of lead, just a good quality one. Older types of fly leads break internally very easily. Look for an RG6 Quad Shield fly lead, with crimped F connectors on the ends and adaptors for PAL male on each end.

Phillip Dixon

Hi David have moved into a rental property which only has a Foxtel port for the antenna. Can I run the free to air stations without having to get a Foxtel decoder? Hope this makes sense! Thanks. Liz

David Findlay

Even though Foxtel carries free to air channels, they’re carried in a Foxtel signal that needs to be decoded by a Foxtel box and as far as I’m aware they’ll only work if you have a paid subscription.

However, in some premises where there is Foxtel and a terrestrial antenna, the signals for both can be sent to TV points over the same cable. Usually this is in units or apartments though. If this is the case, you could just connect a TV fly lead with an F connector on one end and a PAL male connector on the other and plug it into your TV and it’d work.

Otherwise if it’s just a Foxtel connection that comes from cable in the street or a Foxtel dish, then no it won’t work.

David

There is an unused wall socket in another room in the house, how do I transmit it to my TV.

Yes and no. These types of signal meters will help you find the correct direction to point the antenna. What they won’t do is identify other issues that may make the signal in your location poor quality.

For instance issues may be caused by hills or reflections off of buildings. A meter just tells you how strong the signal is. If you are behind a hill the signal may be the same across 20-30 degrees of the horizon. You won’t be able to tell where the best is.

However if it’s just a fairly simple situation it’ll definitely help you point the right direction. How far away are you from the TV towers and are you surrounded by hills?

Greg M

I’m not sure how far I am from the towers (how do I tell?), but I’m apparently in a strong signal area (eastern suburbs at bottom of the hills in Perth). No other hills around. My antenna however is actually inside our
tin roof, so I assume this is the main issue. Send to have gotten worse in the last 12 months though.

Mark

Hi David. Was wondering if there is a solution for changing channel on my Foxtel box without having to open TV cabnate door..? Maybe a mini aerial I could buy to poke through a small opening on the top of cabnate..?

Hi David,
I have just got Optus Fetch TV with multiroom but have hit a snag. I am able to get FTA in my study, lounge, spare bedroom & main bedroom. I set up the first Fetch box in the spare bedroom, no probs got all the FTA channels etc., however, when I set up the next box in the lounge room, no FTA at all….. Very confusing as we can get FTA via the TV right next to the new Fetch box just switching the cable. I have swapped Fetch boxes around and yep the one from the Lounge gets FTA in the spare bedroom, so both get FTA in the spare bedroom, neither get FTA in the Lounge however the TV gets FTA using the same wall socket and cable. Any ideas as this is doing my head in, thanks

Richard

Late last night I got the mighty box FTA working in the Lounge.

My home uses wired network connections almost everywhere so that’s how the Fetch boxes were connected. Late last night while I was still trying different settings I added our home wifi. Before retiring defeated, I thought I’d run the FTA channel search, eureka, the search found all FTA channels.

I have no idea why wifi would influence FTA but that’s about the only thing I really changed last night before it found the FTA channels.

Robert Borwell

Hi David,
Having trouble with reception since moving TV into a new room.
Coax cable run from previous TV location, which is where the external TV aerial lead went to.
Used multi-meter to check for any shorts and found a couple. No success with reception
Purchased a cheap signal strength meter. Found no signal at new coax outlet and only one green light at internal end of aerial lead (about 8m into roof, from aerial). Purchased an amplifier, now have 3/4 green lights at TV outlet. Amplifier also checks for shorts and indicates there are none.
Tried tuning both the large house (Samsung) and the caravan portable TV’s, neither locked in any channels.
I had no problems with the reception at the previous TV location.
Any suggestions.

Thanks,
Bob

Elizabeth R

Hi David, I have foxtel connected, can I get reception in another room away from the IQ without having to get another box installed?

David Findlay

You can. However you will only be able to view whatever channel is selected on the IQ. Both rooms will only be able to see the same channel at a time.

That particular one will send a Standard Definition signal to another room. You can also carry the remote control to the other room and use it to change channels. Both rooms will be tuned to the same channel though.

There are also HDMI High Definition units available, but I don’t know whether or not Copy Protection on the Foxtel IQ will stop them from working properly.

Cindy Sharp Dempsey

We have an Antenna that is powered through the coaxial cable. We have left the satellite cabling system in place and would like to get a splitter to get signal on 4 TVs. Do you have any suggestions of what type of splitter will work?

Loraine Lamont

“Bad signal” on screen, picture breaks, tbox aerial, what to to? Aerial connection is ok, but tbox is old. Next step to pay for aerial technician or replace tbox?

David Findlay

If you unplug the antenna cable from the T-Box and run it straight into the back of the TV, do you get a good signal? I’m always more suspicious of the cables than devices. It’s possible the T-Box is bad, but I doubt it.

Do you have other TVs in the house? Do they still work?

Andrew Stimson

Hi David. I am having problems receiving Nine HD on the northern Gold Coast. Foxtel said I would need to install a normal antenna despite the fact that all channels are coming throught the satelitte dish. This doesn’t make sense to me. Are they fobbing me off?

David Findlay

Last time I checked, the free to air channels included on Foxtel were only Standard Definition. They also seem a bit degraded to me compared to free to air standard definition over a terrestrial antenna. I have always recommended installing an antenna for terrestrial free-to-air for your local channels, and suggest switching to ordinary TV(not via the Foxtel) when you want to watch those local channels. Free to air over the terrestrial antenna always seems to be much better quality, especially on high definition channels.

Andrew Stimson

Thanks.

Harrison Russ

Hi David. May I first say, thank you for answering questions for us all. We bought a house with numerous foxtel and terrestrial sockets in the house, however the spot that suits our needs for the TV doesn’t have a terrestrial socket. Can I connect the foxtel and terrestrial sockets (via cable) elsewhere in the house and then use the foxtel point near the TV to plug into the set top box? We don’t have foxtel connected but do have the satellite dish on the roof.

Ian

Hi David,
I have an amplifier on my TV aerial. The government site says I have good reception. I have suspicions a recent thunderstorm has compromised my reception. I have a few questions –
Can I restore my reception by electing not to use an amplifier? If so, can this be done without visiting my roof? Would the lightning strike have more likely damaged the amplifier only or the amplifier AND the lineal injector in my lounge room? If I need to replace my injector (output 22V ac 80mA) does it need to be the exact same specifications? The previous owners of my house installed 4 antenna outlets in the walls for which I only have a need for 2. Are the unused ones better off left as is or di#connected? And lastly I notice that if I turn off power to my primary TV source (the one using the injector) I cannot get any reception whatsoever at any of the other sites. Is it normal practice to have this interdependency when running multiple outlets?

David Findlay

Usually the amplifier is installed on the antenna pole and feeds signal to all points in the house. So a fault with the amplifier will disable all TV points in the house. I’ve noted close lightning strikes can often damage TV amplifiers, they’re pretty sensitive to it. Doesn’t need to be a direct hit, just something nearby. It’s possible that the injector has failed, but in my experience lightning usually takes out the amplifier itself. A replacement injector will need to have the same specifications. You won’t be able to replace or remove the amplifier without getting to where it’s installed(usually on the antenna mast, or occasionally in the ceiling). If you removed it and reconnected the cable directly to the antenna, it’s possible that the sockets may then work. However usually if you’ve got an amplifier installed, it’s installed because it’s needed to get good signal. Disconnecting the two sockets not needed and replacing the 4 way splitter with a 2 way splitter may mean you don’t need an amplifier, but I wouldn’t necessarily count on it.

My recommendation would be to get a new amplifier and power supply(modern amplifiers use a DC power supply). You would need to access the roof to do so, and obviously there’s risks that come with that.

Wendy Jackson

Hey David…. we had Foxtel for over 3 years and when they installed… they put 2 ariels in the lounge room…. we have now decided to go with Optus…. have fetch…but no tv..and so sockets apart from the 2 foxtel ones.
Is there a attachment for the “screw in ” type (foxtel) to make normal arial ? Thanks Wendy

thehoff

Hi David I live in Sydney. My reception on all channels with aerial cables plugged straight into tv was quite good, no problems. I recently purchased a fetch box and it does not pick up channel 10. I bought a quad shield aerial cable but that did not change anything. I live in a unit so can’t do much with the actual aerial. What do you suggest?

Fred Owen

I’m on the committee for a block of units. The TV antenna was storm damaged and needs replacing, we have been quoted for a uhf and vhf antenna at around $1100. All tv’s in the units are digital, do we need a vhf antenna or will a uhf be sufficient?
Thanks
Fred

Caz Swaisland

Hi David. I have recently moved into a new apartment in Sydney and whilst trying to connect my TV to the walled antenna point last night, I realised it is only a single Foxtel connection point and not an antenna point afterall. What are my options if I only want to receive free-to-air TV and not Foxtel? Can I get the connection point changed or would buying a digital indoor antenna solve the problem? I’m really not TV-savvy so any advice you can provide would be much appreciated. Thanks, in advance!

Matt

Hi David,
Just moved to an existing house in Holland Park, Brisbane, and we can’t seem to connect to digital tv at all. Our internet provider also said they can’t see any record of an existing copper phone line service to the house, which is bizarre as it’s been recently renovated (2 years ago) and occupied the whole time. Any suggestions?

Geoff

Hi David, I’m having reception/signal issues mainly in the evenings. The signal strength for all channels is good being 88-90 for most and the worst being 82 the abc network. The signal doesn’t drop out, it just pixelates in and out. I’ve heard of interference from LED lights and other appliances, so I have tested a few theories to no resolution. It seems worse in bad weather. I’m running only one tv point, no splitter, quad coax, f-type balin, all f-type connections and a block/pass for 4G interference.
Please help

Anthony Brewer

Hello David, we have a Bose system through which our free to air and foxtel are connected. We can watch the Free to air separately not using the Bose and we can also watch foxtel through the bose. Free to air have some extra channels like Go, Flix, Extra, live etc, etc. which we could not receive through the foxtel setup. Since we wished to record some of the content from these channels we connected the free to air antenna into the foxtel IQ3 as specified in their How to guide. This worked but in the process we lost getting Ch 10 through the IQ3 and receive Ch10 only on free to air, which does not allow us to record content from Ch10. We wish to have this remedied so that we can in fact make recordings from Ch10 through the IQ3.
Can you do this for us? Please!